W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Lowered to "Equal Weight" Rating by Wells Fargo & Company

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $69.00 price objective on the insurance provider's stock, down from their previous price objective of $70.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential downside of 0.76% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WRB. Truist Financial boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.59.

Remove Ads

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.53. The stock had a trading volume of 528,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,801,566. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 72.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,574,000 after buying an additional 41,320 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 31,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.